AUSTIN — Texas Gov. Greg Abbott and Homeland Security Secretary John Kelly found common ground Wednesday during their visit to the Texas-Mexico border to discuss the department's security efforts in the Rio Grande Valley.

"I am pleased to be working with Secretary Kelly on solving our border challenges and am encouraged by the attention the federal government is giving this serious issue," Abbott said in a prepared statement.

During the meeting at the Texas Department of Public Safety regional headquarters in Weslaco, Abbott touched on the importance of preserving economic development in the region while maintaining safety and security.

"Mexico is our largest trading partner. We need to, I think, ensure we are able to continue that very effective trade," Abbott said in his opening remarks, according to The Monitor in McAllen.

Kelly said he will visit the area often to gather information on how best to maintain border security.

"The only opinion, in my view, that counts right now are from the people that work this border, the Texas public safety, DHS. That's why I'm here," Kelly said.

Local and federal officials then met with Abbott and Kelly in an hourlong security briefing that was closed to the public.

Kelly called border security a priority for him and the Trump administration, Abbott said after the meeting and before embarking on an aerial tour of the border with Kelly.

"Together, with the federal government, Texas will not flinch in our resolve to keep our citizens safe," Abbott said.

The department apprehended more than 36,000 unaccompanied minors in the Rio Grande Valley in the fiscal year ending Sept. 30 — up 54 percent from fiscal year 2015. More than 52,000 "family units" were apprehended in 2016 in the area, up 90 percent from the previous fiscal year. The agency defines family units as individuals who are apprehended with another family member.

"It is our burden to deal with the consequences of the federal government not securing the border," he said. "What must be stopped is illegal immigration — and worse, the criminals who conspire with cartels to enter the U.S. illegally."

President Donald Trump started following through on his border security campaign promise last week when he signed an executive order to begin construction of a wall on the southern U.S. border. The wall is estimated to cost between $10 billion and $25 billion. Taxpayers will pay for the wall's construction until Mexico covers the costs, Trump said.

Cost aside, Kelly, a former Marine Corps general, has indicated he takes issue with the strategic advantage of building a wall. "A physical barrier will not do the job, it has to be a layered defense," he said during his confirmation hearing last month. Kelly alternatively proposed stopping the flow of drugs from the southern border by "partnering with great countries as far south as Peru" to stop drug production before drugs even get to the border.

Also Wednesday, state Sen. Juan "Chuy" Hinojosa, D-McAllen, asked for federal funds to reimburse local taxpayers for the financial strain illegal immigration has placed on his district. Hinojosa estimates that South Texas cities have spent over $800,000 in local resources and equipment.

"Public, private, and nonprofit resources have been stretched to the limit," Hinojosa said in a prepared statement. "We must ensure our local communities are reimbursed for this ongoing humanitarian situation."

Hinojosa's request piggybacks on one from Rep. Dennis Bonnen, R-Angleton, who asked the Obama administration for $2.8 billion on Jan. 11, calling it a "conservative" estimate to help repay Texas' criminal justice and health departments for their border security initiatives.